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How is it like to be a dev in Iran

shahinsorkh.ir

121–130 of 462 posts

Re: How is it like to be a dev in Iran

#121
post #2

Seems like it could be dangerous just to blog about these activities if you live in Iran?

Unless you are not in Iran and this is propaganda. I am not a fan of IRI by any stretch but that post does not pass the smell test. And last I checked -- I have relatives in Iran -- no one is "starving". As for Iran's government not wanting its citizens spilling their daily beans on an Israeli platform, that's pretty sensible. (Would Israel permit its citizens to chat away on platforms from Iran?) How difficult is it…

Your relatives are not entirely honest with you. Of course they might not be starving and people might have enough food, but they are having less access to medicines and other necessities.

Re: How is it like to be a dev in Iran

#122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a good point. To add a slightly different perspective, I work for a US company that routinely has to deal with cyber attacks by Iranian professionals, probably government sponsored. I think most people don't realize how incredibly serious this is, and how basically there is already a global war being fought. And the nations with the most freedom have the most to lose. Certainly most of the people in Iran are…

> I work for a US company that routinely has to deal with cyber attacks by Iranian professionals, probably government sponsored. It's hard to posit a moral high-ground here, when basically every state is actively seeking to undermine the others' cyber security, including the US. Stuxnet is one of the most formidable state-sponsored cyber security exploits, and that was targeted at Iran, it seems easy justification to…

Maybe it’s just me, but I’m always baffled when people categorically claim that they know the source of their cyber attacks. It’s not exactly difficult for someone with the most basic knowledge of networking to disguise that information or masquerade as someone they’re not.

Re: How is it like to be a dev in Iran

#123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why don't you overthrow the Iranian dictatorship?

Because I don't live in Iran, if there is ever a solution to the Iran tiranny it must happen from the inside and from its own people.

There's many Americans that didn't live in Iraq, but fully supported the toppling of Saddam.

Re: How is it like to be a dev in Iran

#124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a good point. To add a slightly different perspective, I work for a US company that routinely has to deal with cyber attacks by Iranian professionals, probably government sponsored. I think most people don't realize how incredibly serious this is, and how basically there is already a global war being fought. And the nations with the most freedom have the most to lose. Certainly most of the people in Iran are…

Just wondering but: > I work for a US company that routinely has to deal with cyber attacks by Iranian professionals, probably government sponsored. The full article is about services blocking IPs from Iran (and how it's effecting him as a dev). I don't see what cyber attacks have to do with anything? Or do you think these IP bans are a defense against cyber attacks? All countries do cyber attacks, most countries in…

>Not to get all political but I think it's pretty clear that the US is the only western country not liking Iran, and they use their influence to have the whole world obey US sanctions. You expecting OP to raise against their government? I say odds of succeeding are slimmer than storming Area 51.

This isn't exactly true. The EU is opposed to Iran's aggressive policies in the region (e.g. in Yemen, Syria, and now Hormuz) and its continued development of ballistic missile technology. They're just content with the 2015 nuclear deal as a starting point, whereas current US policy is not.

It's also worth noting that the EU disproportionately benefits from oil purchases from Iran relative to US so they have their own political self-interests factoring into their decision.

Re: How is it like to be a dev in Iran

#125
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's kind of by design. What other effect do you think the total economic embargo would have? It's not like they're some super advanced country that's independent of anybody else for tech. Good (for the US) news is, it's working. They're getting ready to negotiate, hence the UK tanker intercepts etc. Weak negotiating position, need bargaining chips. I kind of agree with Lindsey Graham: if you just want nuclear powe…

Well, it's sort of good news in the sense that, if the U.S. chose to negotiate, Iran still wants a deal, and we might end up with the same deal as before? Or in other words, this was all unnecessary, but some of the damage caused by abandoning a done deal might be reversible.

No deal will be made unless perhaps if Trump wins a second term. One year with sanctions is not something new. As long as Iran have it’s energy supply secured.

Re: How is it like to be a dev in Iran

#126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a good point. To add a slightly different perspective, I work for a US company that routinely has to deal with cyber attacks by Iranian professionals, probably government sponsored. I think most people don't realize how incredibly serious this is, and how basically there is already a global war being fought. And the nations with the most freedom have the most to lose. Certainly most of the people in Iran are…

> I work for a US company that routinely has to deal with cyber attacks by Iranian professionals, probably government sponsored. It's hard to posit a moral high-ground here, when basically every state is actively seeking to undermine the others' cyber security, including the US. Stuxnet is one of the most formidable state-sponsored cyber security exploits, and that was targeted at Iran, it seems easy justification to…

Do you think Russian efforts on this same front are a result of US policies? Should those policies change, stay the same or something else?

Re: How is it like to be a dev in Iran

#127
post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>In general openness and cultural/economic exchange help progressive forces within the country, and sanctions help xenophobic hard-liners. I've read in various places that the opposite is actually true -- sanctions from the liberal US strengthens the liberals in Iran by highlighting how the regime's aggressive policy is resulting in economic pain for Iranians. This didn't really work with China either. Granted, there…

I doubt that US foreign policy has anything to do with the desire to “liberalize” a country. Unless you’re using that term in a different sense...

Liberal countries tend to befriend other liberal countries. So yes, even from a purely strategic perspective US foreign policy has a desire to liberalize other countries (in the classical sense of the term).

Re: How is it like to be a dev in Iran

#128
post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sanctions (in the form that the US is applying them to Venezuela and Iran) are a form of economic warfare. The idea is to cause economic instability by stopping (oil) exports, and thus cause general instability. Now, there are mismanagement arguments you could make but it would be naive to ignore the massive effects that US (and importantly, US ally) sanctions have on a country that relies on exports. The effects on…

The sanctions hurt from the bottom up. The elites who own the economy lose some money but they are eatill comfort.

The elites in countries like Iran and Venezuela derive all of their wealth by theft from the bottom 99%, without exception.

Just take a look at the extraordinary pile of wealth and power the fake theocracy in Iran has thefted away via Setad (about $100 billion stolen from the Iranian people). Reuters has done great investigative reporting on this over the years:

https://www.reuters.com/investigates/iran/#article/part1

It turns out Khamenei is nothing more than a Putin-like kleptocrat, a thief, using religion as a cover for building a massive corporate empire on the backs of the poor Iranian people (from which he aggressively steals property). Everything about modern Iran makes sense once you read about Khamenei and Setad.

The people in the bottom 99% are the only ones who can change these countries. If you could take most of the personal wealth of the members of eg the Maduro regime in Venezuela, it would change absolutely nothing. They ultimately rule by gun, through military control. The majority - including large sections of the military - has to turn against the leadership to spur change.

Countries have no moral obligation to support the Maduro or Khamenei regimes (which is what happens when you freely trade with them and prop them up through hundreds of billions of dollars in foreign investment and oil purchases). Someone will reply to this and say: well the US is exactly the same as Maduro and Khamenei (or worse). The only proper response to that is: ok, sure, boycott or embargo the US, give it your best shot.

Re: How is it like to be a dev in Iran

#130
post #78
post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your first two points are not really supported by facts. The nuclear deal had a relatively invasive verification regime. I also don't understand why people refer to Iran as the world's largest supporter of terror--what specific terror acts are we speaking of? Any negotiated deal will have tradeoffs. The US's latest policy of total humiliation as articulated by Pompeo seems destined to fail. The regime is not going to…

"The nuclear deal had a relatively invasive verification regime" A 'relatively invasive' inspection regime where you had to get permission in advance from Iran to visit 'military sites', and nearly all of the restrictions were temporary. "what specific terror acts are we speaking of?" There's a pretty massive civil war you may have heard of, where Iran is on the side which uses chemical weapons. Or maybe we could men…

> A 'relatively invasive' inspection regime where you had to get permission in advance from Iran to visit 'military sites', and nearly all of the restrictions were temporary.

Thankfully, you can detect traces of nuclear material for months and years: https://www.iiss.org/blogs/survival-blog/2019/04/iaea-inspec...

On the other hand, you might now get less access, an Iran as a nuclear threshold state, and the war to stop it might not happen after all.

> There's a pretty massive civil war you may have heard of, where Iran is on the side which uses chemical weapons. Or maybe we could mention sending lots of IEDs to Iraq to kill Americans.

Those things at least are not terrorism by any reasonable definition.

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